1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a game server that manages an action of a virtual user existing in a virtual space using operation data from each terminal connected via a communication network, a method of controlling a progress of a game provided by the game server, a game program recording medium, and a game system.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Recently, social network games (hereinafter referred to as social games), which are games provided using a Social Networking Service (SNS), are becoming more common with the spread of high-end portable terminals such as smartphones. A social game is a game in which a physical user operating a terminal controls, via a communication network, a virtual user that exists in a virtual space established by a game server to play a game online while communicating with other virtual users existing in the same virtual space.
For example, one of such types of social games may be a game in which, depending on an action of the virtual user or a story, a single story or scenario is established by combining a plurality of game parts (which can be different from each other) such as a quest part, a battle part, a combination part, and a gacha part to constitute a single game. (e.g., see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-24248).
In such a game, there are items which can be used by the virtual user within the game (hereinafter, this item is referred to as “virtual item” since this item is used within the virtual space). The virtual item may be, for example, a quest item helpful for proceeding an adventure route in the quest part, a battle item helpful for defeating an enemy in the battle part, etc. These virtual items can be obtained during the game play, or can be obtained as a login bonus given as a reward for logging in the game.
As the game progresses, the virtual user would have a larger number of opportunities for obtaining the virtual items, and would have surplus virtual items which are difficult to be consumed in the game. In the game, the upper limit is set regarding the number of pieces of a virtual item which can be possessed by a virtual user. Here, the term “piece” is used to count a number of a virtual item itself, and also used to count a number of partial components of a virtual item. Generally, there may be settings that when the number of pieces of a virtual item in possession exceeds the upper limit number, no other new piece of the virtual item can be obtained, or the pieces of the virtual item already in possession are automatically removed from the oldest piece. In these cases, in order to obtain a new piece of the virtual item, or in order to prevent a necessary virtual item from being automatically removed, the virtual user is required to delete, virtually “sell”, etc., a surplus virtual item. There has been a potential desire for a measure that the user is provided with opportunities for effectively consuming obtained virtual items through playing the game.
The present disclosure has been contrived based on the aforementioned disadvantages and it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a game server which can provides a game in which surplus virtual items obtained in the game can be effectively consumed in the game play, a game controlling method of controlling the progression of a game provided by the game server, a game program recording medium which records a game program, and a game system.